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www.ablyproductions.com
crash course in cd manufacturing
the
basics - cd and cd label
this section is currently under construction.
we appologize for any inconvenience this may cause
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this is a cd. the printing on your cd is referred to
as the cd label. after your cd is moulded the cd label
is silk screened onto it using PMS inks. (PMS stands
for Pantone Matching System) your cd label design must
be set up using colours from the Pantone Coated selections.
the standard number of colours printed on the cd label
is two. you can print up to six colours on the cd label
if you wish, but extra charges per colour per cd will
apply. you can print CMYK on the cd label by using Pantone
CMYK. if you choose to print CMYK combinations we strongly
recommend that you add a fifth colour and print a full
white bleed so that your combinations print as you expect.
(see the printing section for more information on CMYK)
when
designing your cd label you should be aware of the different
areas of the actual cd surface: the STANDARD PRINT
AREA, the IDENTIFICATION BAND AREA, and the
EXTENDED PRINT AREA.
These areas are illustrated below...
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the STANDARD PRINT AREA (the area between 46mm
from the center of the cd to 116mm from the center of
the cd), is the area on the front of the cd where the
"data" surface of the cd can be seen. the data area of
the cd is the portion of cd is where the digital information
(music data, cd-rom, or cd enhanced data) resides. this
area has a consistent "reflectivity". your cd label design
can "drop out" to reveal this area's surface and use the
silver colour of the side as a sort of extra colour in
your design. (take a look at the back of a cd you have...
if you look closely you can see very fine rings imprinted
into the silver surface: these rings are the information
on that cd. the rings are what gives this area of the
cd a "grain" and cause the light refraction
(the rainbow sort of effect) that you can see when you
move the cd in the light. the rings are actually made
up of very small "pits" which are how your cd gives digital
information to your cd player to read... a pit = 1, and
no pit = 0) |
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the IDENTIFICATION BAND AREA (the area between
39mm from the center of the cd to 46mm from the center
of the cd), is the area visible through the front of the
cd where information identifying your cd is stamped (such
as your catalogue #, and where your cd was manufactured,
lot number...). this surface is metallic like the standard
print area, but has no "grain". the identification
band area is just plain metal, and does not have any
data rings in it, so it has a chrome-like luster, but
does not refract light like the standard print area
surface does. if your cd label design drops out to reveal
this surface you will be able to see a difference between
this area and the standard print area. |
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the EXTENDED PRINT AREA (the area between 27mm
from the center of the cd to 39mm from the center of the
cd), is the area in the center of the cd which is made
of clear plastic. this area has a completely different
reflectivity than the standard print area surface,
and the identification band area, and is not opaque,
so light will shine straight through it. if your cd label
design drops out to reveal this section of the cd surface
you will see it clearly, and you might not like the results.
this area of the cd surface is also visible through the
actual cd label; when light gets behind the cd it will
shine right through the printing on the cd label in this
area, and even if this area contains the same colour used
in the standard print area and the identification
band area it will look different. |
NOT-SO-AWESOME
cd label design |
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this "not-so-awesome" cd label design
illustrates how dropped-out text or images crossing over
into the identification band area and the extended
print area will fully reveal the difference in surfaces
underneath the cd label. the larger text on the outside
would be fine because it stays within the standard
print area, and would in fact, create an interesting
effect with the text as light shone on the cd from different
angles. *please note that although this would not be classified
as an error, the light shining from behind the cd will
reveal the clear plastic extended print area underneath
the printing through the ink... if you do not wish for
this difference to show on your final cd, then you should
not print your background colour into the extended
print area. |
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